The VC Advantage: Rocking, Papering, and Scissoring Out

We may not have recommended Alex Kidd in Miracle World for everyone, but many of us are still charmed by the colorful adventures of Sega's erstwhile mascot. The boss battles are one of the most adorable aspects of the game -- they're played out in the arena of rock, paper, scissors.

In theory, this is cute and quirky, but bosses based on random chance can get frustrating quickly. Good thing, then, the opponents' throws aren't random at all. The bosses are pre-scripted! There's evidence of an element of randomness: the bosses' attacks in later games will be different depending on what you throw in earlier games. But if you adhere to the following solutions list, you'll sail through the janken games. The two moves next to each name correspond to the two rounds involved in each battle.

The VC Advantage is a weekly look at the secrets inside games -- not just cheat codes, but assorted trivia and oddities. We aim to bring back the feeling of the hint columns from game magazines, except when we do something else.